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Sometimes less freedom is a good thing. It frees the customer's mind to let an organization they trust make the tedious product evaluations for you. We do it al

Sometimes less freedom is a good thing. It frees the customer's mind to let an organization they trust make the tedious product evaluations for you. We do it all the time with retail shopping where we enjoy the curated decisions of the shop's owner instead of a giant bazaar.

aero-glide2 5y ago
I own the hardware (the floor space of the store). Should I not be able to decide who sets up shop in my phone?
- Jailbird 5y ago
  I think the zoning laws in your area prevent you from operating a nuclear plant or a meat processing facility. (Sorry, it's just Hello Kitty shops for you! :) )
celsoazevedo 5y ago
On the other hand, when Apple decides to block some app (eg: certain VPN apps in China) for reasons that aren't in your interest, you're screwed. Being able to use a different app store (which may or may not be as "curated" as Apple's own store) or to simply download the app from the devs website and install it doesn't seem to be a problem for Android users. Or for Windows, Linux and even macOS (eg: is it that bad being able to install Steam?) The thing is, most people will use the store that comes with the phone. I have F-Droid installed for some open source apps, but my parents have no idea of what that is. They use Google's Play Store, like most users... if Facebook wants them to use their apps, that's where their app needs to be.
- notriddle 5y ago
  https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27221083 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27221083 Apparently, yes, it is a problem.
  - celsoazevedo 5y ago
    They're trying to defend their own store and business model... of course having a more open system is a problem. After years of "there are no viruses for mac", I find it funny to see an Apple exec saying that his own family members have been infected by malware on macOS.
pjc50 5y ago
But we do allow more than one or two shops to exist.
cs2733 5y ago
I'm with you on this... and then remember the many useful tools that are only available outside the app store. BTW, Have you seen the app store catalog for macOS on apple silicon? Still very sparse. Trusting one company to provide the whole stack is not necessarily practical, even for the average user.
- exporectomy 5y ago
  If your phone is a central part of your IT job (you mention tools), then you need flexibility. But if you're like me any just use it as a phone, casual web browser, and messenger device, freedom is no value. I'm confident all the basic important stuff will be available and if it's not, I don't really care anyway. I don't want to have to think about or manage my phone. I want it to just do its basic job and get out of my way. I think a lot of people are like this.
calsy 5y ago
They curate their stores to draw in customers, placing popular items up front and usually having SALE signs up. Why? because it is an extremely competitive environment. The store owners pay rent, they are not obliged to give a 30% commission on purchases to the company who owns the shopping centre and they are not forced to use the shopping centres chosen payment service to make sure they collect on commissions. Less freedom is not a good thing. Nothing is being taken away from you when you provide other options, quite the opposite.

aero-glide2 5y ago

I own the hardware (the floor space of the store). Should I not be able to decide who sets up shop in my phone?

Jailbird 5y ago
I think the zoning laws in your area prevent you from operating a nuclear plant or a meat processing facility. (Sorry, it's just Hello Kitty shops for you! :) )

celsoazevedo 5y ago

On the other hand, when Apple decides to block some app (eg: certain VPN apps in China) for reasons that aren't in your interest, you're screwed. Being able to use a different app store (which may or may not be as "curated" as Apple's own store) or to simply download the app from the devs website and install it doesn't seem to be a problem for Android users. Or for Windows, Linux and even macOS (eg: is it that bad being able to install Steam?) The thing is, most people will use the store that comes with the phone. I have F-Droid installed for some open source apps, but my parents have no idea of what that is. They use Google's Play Store, like most users... if Facebook wants them to use their apps, that's where their app needs to be.

notriddle 5y ago
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27221083 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27221083 Apparently, yes, it is a problem.
- celsoazevedo 5y ago
  They're trying to defend their own store and business model... of course having a more open system is a problem. After years of "there are no viruses for mac", I find it funny to see an Apple exec saying that his own family members have been infected by malware on macOS.

pjc50 5y ago

But we do allow more than one or two shops to exist.

cs2733 5y ago

I'm with you on this... and then remember the many useful tools that are only available outside the app store. BTW, Have you seen the app store catalog for macOS on apple silicon? Still very sparse. Trusting one company to provide the whole stack is not necessarily practical, even for the average user.

exporectomy 5y ago
If your phone is a central part of your IT job (you mention tools), then you need flexibility. But if you're like me any just use it as a phone, casual web browser, and messenger device, freedom is no value. I'm confident all the basic important stuff will be available and if it's not, I don't really care anyway. I don't want to have to think about or manage my phone. I want it to just do its basic job and get out of my way. I think a lot of people are like this.

calsy 5y ago

They curate their stores to draw in customers, placing popular items up front and usually having SALE signs up. Why? because it is an extremely competitive environment. The store owners pay rent, they are not obliged to give a 30% commission on purchases to the company who owns the shopping centre and they are not forced to use the shopping centres chosen payment service to make sure they collect on commissions. Less freedom is not a good thing. Nothing is being taken away from you when you provide other options, quite the opposite.